PORT ANGELES — The late Leo White will be honored at Winterfest as the man who developed the first rope tow on the North Olympic Peninsula.
White — a Port Angeles businessman, civic leader and skiing enthusiast — built a rope tow using a motorcycle engine at Deer Park in 1936, said Dr. Roger Oakes, author of Skiing in Olympic National Park.
“Leo was on the cutting edge of developing ski lifts,” said Oakes, explaining that the first rope tow in the nation was in New England in 1934.
Oakes, a retired doctor and a founder of the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club who serves on the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation, tells of White in his book published last November and will speak about him during Saturday’s Winterfest.
White’s family will sit at the table of honor, Oakes said.
Family matters
Among them will be White’s grandson, Malcolm White, who is the fourth generation of Whites to operate Olympic Laundry and Dry Cleaners, which is at 418 S. Lincoln St. in Port Angeles.
Leo White, who died in 2004 at the age of 93, was born in 1910.
His family moved to Port Angeles circa 1920 and started the laundry, Oakes said.
White grew up in the laundry business, but his accomplishments expanded far beyond it.
“He was a civic leader, a Rotarian, he got the Liberty Bell to come to Port Angeles.
He was a ham radio operator, a candlemaker, a photographer and a ski instructor at Deer Park,” said Oakes, who lives in Port Angeles.
Premier ski area
“Deer Park at that time was the premier ski area in the state of Washington,” Oakes said.
“The reason was we had a road to the high country, we had a lodge and we had a rope tow.”
Skiing moved to Hurricane Ridge in 1958. Once again, a major factor was access.
Once it was completed in 1957, Hurricane Ridge Road offered a two-lane drive, far more comfortable and safer than Deer Park’s primitive one-lane roadway to the summit of Blue Mountain, according to Oakes.
Hurricane Ridge Lodge was dedicated in 1952, before the road was completely finished, according to information for a photograph provided by Oakes.
Leo White, who was then president of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, attended the dedication along with U.S. Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Olympic National Park Superintendent Fred Overly.
Still in use now at Hurricane Ridge are two automobile engines that came from Deer Park in 1958, Oakes said. One is for the Poma lift and the other for the intermediate rope tow.
Leo White’s grandson Malcolm recently presented the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Education Foundation with the donation of proceeds from sales of Oakes’ book at his business.
He must have added a little to the donation out of his own pocket, according to Oakes.
“He donated $500, which was more than he made on any book sales,” Oakes said.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
